The vendors at Natural Products Expo East introduced several products of interest to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review readers during the three-day show at the Baltimore Convention Center on September 26-28. The 22,000 attendees expected at the show kept the show floor lively, and vendors reported high levels of interest from retailers looking for products to stock their shelves during the winter holiday sales season.

Eco Vessel creates high-quality alternatives to plastic products that contained BPA and now specializes in insulated products with TriMax technology that keep beverages cold for 36 hours or hot for eight. The full lines include kids products, filtration products, double-walled glass bottles and Tritan bottles. Eco Vessel showed a new line of collapsible food containers called SmashBox that are microwave-safe, freezer-safe and dishwasher-safe. They collapse to about an inch thick after use or for storage, so that after lunch is gone, they can be stowed away in backpack and come home under the laptop and the text book without damage. Retail prices range from $9.95 to $19.95. For further information, visit www.ecovessel.com.

Moso Natural’s new air purifying bag for the refrigerator is a small bag of non-toxic, eco-friendly bamboo charcoal that goes into the refrigerator to stop those odors that tend to accumulate wherever food is stored. The product was just released three weeks ago, and it’s more powerful than baking soda. Once a month, it should go out into the sunshine for about an hour to rejuvenate, and then it can go back into the refrigerator to be used again for up to two years. When its lifetime is over, it’s compostable, so it can go into the garden to help plants grow. The product retails for $7.95. For more information, visit www.mosonatural.com.

innobaby offers a bunch of products helpful to parents who send their children’s food with them to school or care provider. Most of them are glass or stainless steel, and they’re all designed to hold youngster-sized portions. The Stackable containers are made of Tritan and just came out in new colors and would be perfect for holding baby’s barrettes and doodads as well as snack-time treats. For more information, visit www.innobaby.com.

Soapbox Soap is a socially-conscious company that makes soaps with a mission. Bar soaps come with eight different scents, and for each bar sold, the company donates a bar to a child or family in need. Six varieties of liquid hand soaps and body washes have just been introduced. Each of them has a charity partner too. For each bottle of hand soap sold, the company donates a month of clean water through RainCatcher. For the body wash, a purchase of a bottle also gives a year of vitamins through vitamin angels. For more information, visit www.soapboxsoap.com. When you visit the site, you can see a map of where the donations are going.

BlenderBottle’s Classic model is the bottle that uses the BlenderBall wire whisk that moves freely inside the bottle as you shake to mix up protein shakes, smoothies and salad dressings in the leakproof container. The Classic model is made of polypropylene, and the Sport Mixer, which also uses the patented BlenderBall, is made of Eastman’s Tritan polyester. Both are available in 20- and 28-ounce sizes. For more information, visit www.blenderbottle.com.

BioBag offers compostable bags made of natural materials that are an earth-friendly alternative to plastic sandwich bags, food storage bags and cling wrap. Retail prices range from $5 to $8 or so. For more information, visit www.biobagusa.com.